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Using the Bounded Choice Model as an
Analytical Tool: A Case Study of Heaven’s Gate
Janja Lalich, Ph.D.
Abstract
The purpose of this paper is to describe the “bounded choice” theory and to
illustrate how this new model can be used as a tool for examining and analyzing
high-demand groups, sometimes called cults. Based on findings from a comparative
study of two cultic groups, a social-psychological theory is developed to
interpret the behavior of true believers in a closed, charismatic context. Based
on textual analysis and interview data, the Heaven’s Gate cult is used to
illustrate the conceptual framework, which is comprised of four organizational
aspects: charismatic authority, the transcendent belief system, the system of
control, and the system of influence. The result of this interactive dynamic is
a “self-sealing system,” that is, a social system that is closed to
disconfirming evidence and structured in such a way that everything reinforces
the system. Drawing on Anthony Giddens’s (1984) theory of structuration, Herbert
Simon’s (1955, 1956, 1976) theory of bounded rationality, and Robert Jay
Lifton’s (1961) theory of personal closure, “bounded choice” theory helps us
understand the seemingly irrational behavior of the most dedicated adherents.
The theory attempts to take into account individual choice within the context of
an authoritarian, transcendent, closed group.
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